The cutting of materials is an essential aspect of many industrial and commercial activities. For cutting that can be conducted using a cutting blade, the material and the cutting blade pass by one another, allowing the blade to generate a cut in the material. One way this is accomplished is by holding the material stationary as the blade passes by it, and another way is to keep the blade in a single location while pushing the material through it. In either case, a pass is required to generate the cut, which requires energy and time. Another aspect of the cutting process is the proper positioning of the cutting blade with respect to the material to be cut, necessary to generate a cut in the proper location and at the proper angle and depth in the material. Positioning the material and the blade correctly with respect to one another also requires time and energy, and as the complexity or precise needs of a cut increase, so does the cost and difficulty of achieving fast and efficient cutting of the material.
Oriented Strand Board (OSB) is an engineered structural-use panel typically manufactured from thin wood strands bonded together with resin under heat and pressure, and it is used extensively for roof, wall, and floor sheathing in residential and commercial construction. One drawback associated with known oriented strand boards (OSB) is that they are susceptible to edge swell or flare due to moisture absorption. In fact, the largest detractor to OSB flooring is the need to sand tongue and groove joints due to flare (swell) due to moisture during construction. Upon swelling, the top surface of the OSB panel will necessitate sanding, especially when used in flooring applications. This is not only time-consuming, but is also an added expense. One way of addressing edge swell or flare due to moisture absorption is the use of increased amounts of phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin, isocyanate resin and/or increased density (i.e., additional wood). These are all added expenses that must be borne by the consumer.
Another more recent way of addressing edge swell or flare due to moisture absorption in OSB and other wood-based composite panels is by cutting a chamfer into one or more edges of the top surface of the board, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,640,664. Removal of edge material can provide extra room for expansion of the OSB, preventing edge swell or flare. However, the removal of the edge material and the formation of the corresponding chamfers should be precise, otherwise, for example, the reduction of swelling can be less effective, or the appearance of the boards can be negatively affected. The precise removal of material requires an additional pass to create a precise and complex cut, the need for which can act as a throughput bottleneck and a cost sink in production of OSB products.